Mixtape Review-Wheel Power by Remedy

I listened to last years Lord Wheelin mixtape so much that it might have been the most debated project of 2013 for me. It was so solid but somehow didn’t feel great and I always made a pledge to myself that the only things worth reviewing or reading about were spectacular either in how great or how awful they are.

Now I get to tell you about Remedy the way I secretly wanted to do last year…cause his new mixtape Wheel Power has the components that Lord Wheelin didn’t and then some. Remedy is a one man army. Out of the fourteen tracks on Wheel Power Remedy produces eleven of them and raps on every track with no guest stars.

If your looking for a dude who could break big quite easily with a little major label muscle behind him, this is he. Listen to the Intro which is two minutes of straight spitting over a bubbling muscular mid-tempo slap that would make Jay Ant smile. Listen to On Fire Pt.2 (Hot Boy) where this San Francisco artist somehow integrates New Orleans bounce into his sound completely effectively. Its one of the most superbly Cash Money sounding tracks in recent history. It also includes one of the tapes most venomous insults “Some old ratchet a$$ no doz stale weave wearing b#$%…”

Before you come under the assumption that Remedy is some kind of underground version of what we wish Tyga was you need to hear more. Wheel Power knows how to shift down gears from New Orleans bounce/ratchet to thick sticky rider music. Chillin is moving slow enough to not get ticketed in a school zone and that’s great. Remedy narrates his way through buying a chimichanga while reminiscing about days past when he was broke. Bass Feenz produces it and Bass is the operative word. He also produces the lush, soulful and striking Bad (Comments,Likes) which turns out to be a more earnest discussion of relationships on social media than I ever anticipated. If you read the lyrics, “Yeah I know the real about you. I know your parents; yeah I know how they feel about you. You a bum no job no school but your newsfeed showing your making the right moves but your not. Life is more than choosing Jordan shoes…” you might think it was a bit preachy but it never is. Remedy never stops bouncing but he doesn’t feel the need to fit his lyrics within a persona. He’s just as excited to talk about the illusion of success social media creates as he is to make straight twerk inducing bangers (see Bank).

Remedy doesn’t have that thing where every verse is a must hear. At times you’ll bob your head and be three songs past where you thought you were. He needs to work on making each song stand out with its own momentum. But with that being said; what he is is rock solid. You can count on every beat being dope and every verse fits with it. He is an amazing talent because a lot of your favorite rappers aren’t rock solid.